First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Takes Position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 11,402 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $185,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Community Bank N.A. grew its position in Energy Transfer by 55.9% during the 4th quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 2,651 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Energy Transfer news, Director Kelcy L. Warren bought 3,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $47,040,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 123,385,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,934,686,992. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Thomas E. Long bought 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.68 per share, for a total transaction of $313,600.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,308,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,562,909.12. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 3,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $47,040,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 123,385,650 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,686,992. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Energy Transfer stock traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.06. The company had a trading volume of 3,832,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,595,627. The company has a market capitalization of $54.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.66. Energy Transfer LP has a 12-month low of $12.89 and a 12-month high of $16.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $20.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.01 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 12.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.97%. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ET shares. Mizuho increased their price target on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. UBS Group raised their target price on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Energy Transfer from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.29.

Energy Transfer Profile

Energy Transfer LP provides energy-related services. The company owns and operates natural gas transportation pipeline, and natural gas storage facilities in Texas and Oklahoma; and approximately 20,090 miles of interstate natural gas pipeline. It also sells natural gas to electric utilities, independent power plants, local distribution and other marketing companies, and industrial end-users.